Was Lamar Odom a Victim of the Kardashian Curse?

Rhetoric and reality have come face-to-face in the drama masquerading as the life of Lamar Odom.The Dallas Mavericks have made it known they are severing relations with the two-time NBA champ and conventional wisdom suggests that his mindless attempts at 'keeping up with the Kardashians' may have proved his ultimate undoing.

Almost to the day since Odom not only began appearing on the cheesy cable show that purports to chronicle the travails of arguably the world’s most annoyingly, overexposed family, then even dared to lend his name and further celebrity to a spinoff largely concentrating on just him and wife Khloe, there have been those who felt he was engaging in a battle he couldn’t win.

It seems Odom lost this fight because it all seemed to take him so far away from the arena of what first bore his celebrity. Simply put, a distracted, disjointed Lamar Odom could no longer rise to the all-purpose levels that made him such an effective wingman for the likes of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol back in his heyday. It’s been almost as if he’s made the mistake of thinking he wasn’t or could not be Lamar Odom without first cloaking himself in the over-hyped propaganda and salesmanship that’s become the Kardashian brand.

Officially Mark Cuban and the defending world champion Mavericks have released a statement to the effect of “things just didn’t work out and the decision to part ways is a mutual one,” though those in the know will readily tell you the former party seemed to reach the point of irreconcilability at a pace much sooner than the latter. And why would they not…what with the Kardashian clan and their forever rolling TV cameras lurking at every corner?

Say what you will about the Mavs and their arguably hasty act in arriving at such to resolve, but it seems fair to say after Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry all finally tasted the nectar of sweet victory they simply aren’t willing to so easily concede it all to what’s widely known as the ‘Kardashian curse.’

How’s this for harsh reality: all Lamar Odom has brought to the table this shortened season has been drama and even more drama. His game–once thought of so highly, as he reigned as a perennial Olympic, Dream Team-like fixture–consisted of career lows in points (6.6), rebounds (4.2) and minutes (21). It explains why after all those victories, all those titles, all those memories Kobe and the Lakers likewise had to let go.

Now words has it Odom, Khloe again by his side, has left the country for parts unknown to begin the process of rediscovering his spirit and his game. Here’s hoping he left the TV cameras behind.

Glenn Minnis is a veteran sports and culture writer who has contributed to the likes of ESPN, Vibe and the NFL Magazine. He has also been on staff at AOL Sports, the Chicago Tribune and was the founding sports editor for 360HipHop.com.